Chandigarh, August 20
Posing as a mediaperson, a city resident opened an immigration firm and duped two persons of lakhs of rupees promising them easy migration abroad. He had plans to flee abroad and got registered a fake report of his passport theft to avoid suspicion.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police, headed by DSP Anil Joshi, today arrested Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Sector 33, in a case of cheating under Sections 420, 506 and 24 of the Immigration Act.

The suspect, who posed as the bureau chief of a channel, operated as the proprietor of Citran Group International (immigration business) at Sector 34-A.

The complainants, namely Jaswant Singh, a resident of Galwati village in Patiala district, Gurdeep Singh, a resident of Rohti Basta Singh village, Patiala, and Gurmeet Singh of Galbati village, alleged that they were duped of Rs 10.2 lakh by Bhupinder Singh on the pretext of sending them to Canada in 2010 on work permits.

However, the suspect neither sent them to Canada nor returned their money. During interrogation and search of his residence as well as his office, the police recovered some incriminating documents. Three similar FIRs have been registered against him on different complaints.

During interrogation, it also came to light that using media clout, Bhupinder cheated people promising them jobs, including news readers, camera editing, light directions and production scripts, in the electronic media.

Moreover, four persons told the police that they were interviewed by Bhupinder Singh for various jobs in his 'channel'. The police has recovered an ID card of Channel-2 and some visiting cards bearing Bhupinder's name. However, the director of the Channel disclosed that Bhupinder had no concern with his channel.

In another 194 visiting cards recovered from him, he has showed himself as a journalist and the president of the Union Journalist of National News Channel.

The police has also recovered 137 visiting cards of the GNN News channel showing him as the Bureau Chief of the National news channels. He could not produce any authorisation letter from that channel.

DSP Anil Joshi said the suspect got a daily diary report registered at the Sector 34 police station regarding the loss of his passport. But SIT recovered the passport from his residence. “He deliberately lodged a false DDR regarding the loss of his passport as he had plans to flee the country. We also have at least seven more complaints pending against him,” said Joshi.

Chandigarh, August 20
Miscreants smashed windowpanes of three cars and broke locks of a booth in Ram Darbar before they decamped with cash and car stereos in the wee hours this morning.

In his complaint to the police, Charan Singh, a resident of Sector 26, reported that someone had stolen Rs 5,500 from his booth in Phase I, Ram Darbar.

The complainant alleged that thieves also took away car stereos, two speakers, service book, warranty card, CD box and pen drives by smashing the windowpanes of three cars.

The miscreants took away items from car number CH-01AA-7217 owned by Nariender Kumar of Ram Darbar, car number HR-01J-0123 in the name of Sanjeev Kumar of Ram Darbar and from jeep number CH-01TA-6452 owned by Sanjay of Ram Darbar yesterday.

The police has registered a case of theft under Section 379 of the IPC in the Sector 31 police station.

In another case, Bijender Singh, a resident of Kishangarh, reported that someone had stolen his motorcycle (HR-26V-5956) parked near his residence on August 16.

In a similar case, Karam Chand, a resident of Ram Darbar, reported that someone has stolen his Passion Plus motorcycle (CH-01W-2161) parked near his residence on August 19.

The police has registered cases of theft under Section 379 of the IPC in all incidents.

Zirakpur, August 20
Two fresh cases of cheating have been registered against Prince Garg, son of Jeevan Garg, who has been absconding for past few months following several complaints against him. As a result many of his housing projects in the area had come to a halt.

In the first complaint, Sachin Dhall from Panchkula alleged that he had booked a flat in Garg’s project and paid Rs 26 lakh to them in this connection. Neither he got the registry papers of the flat nor did he receive his money back.

In the similar complaint against Prince Garg, Nikkal Aggarwal, a resident of Patiala, said he had given Rs 11 lakh to Garg to get a flat. He complained that he was neither given flat nor money.

Meanwhile, the police maintained that Jeevan Garg, along with his family, had left the country when many of his housing projects were stalled. We have received over 25 complaints in this connection so far, said the police.

Mohali, August 20
Taking action in the case, involving submission of fake academic certificates for the posts of forest guards, the Mohali police has registered an FIR against 75 candidates here.

A case under Sections 420, 465, 466, 468, 471, 474 & 120B of the IPC has been registered against the erred candidates at police station, Phase 8, Mohali.

Notably, during the counselling of the candidates, who had applied for the 188 posts of forest guard in the Punjab Forest Department last year, it was found that 75 candidates had submitted fake certificates of metric and class twelth .

"Most of the fake certificates, submitted by the candidates, are of Haryana Education Board, Sirsa, while the rest are of another education board, which is shown to be located in Mohali. Interestingly, both the boards do not exist," the police said.

The matter came to light when an official of the department had noticed that many candidates, who were having certificates and had shown over 90 per cent marks in metric and class twelth, could not even write an application in English. "To confirm the suspicion, the certificates of the candidates were sent to the Secretary, Board of School Education, Bhiwani, and the Punjab School Education Board for verification. Only then it appeared that the boards mentioned in the certificates did not exist and all certificates were bogus," an official of the Forest Department said.

The Subordinate Selection Board (SSB) had called for the online applications for the post of forest guards last September and the counselling had taken place on December 6,7,8 and 9 last year.

"We have got the addresses of the candidates and copies of bogus certificates. Besides, the candidates we will also take action against the persons, involved in the business of making fake certificates," the police said.

Mohali, August 20
The police claimed to have busted a gang of thieves by arresting its seven members, including five women, this evening.

The accused have been identified as Seema, Jyoti, Poonam, Usha, Anita, Arjun and Bunty, all residents of Dadu Majra Colony in Chandigarh.

DSP RS Sohal said the police had recovered stolen things, including a mini truck, from their possession.

“The accused, especially women, used to do recce of the area during day and then give shape to their nefarious activities during night. We are expecting some more arrests in this connection,” said Sohal, hoping that several theft cases would be solved with the arrest.

The accused would be produced in court tomorrow.

Mohali, August 20
The third accused in the stabbing case has surrendered before the court of judicial magistrate this afternoon.

The accused has been identified as Harpal Singh, alias Lucky, who had been at large since Thursday. Lucky was Maninder Singh’s accomplice, the main accused in the case, and Tajinder Singh when the mother-daughter duo was allegedly stabbed by Maninder Singh at their residence in Phase IV. Both Maninder and Tajinder were sent to judicial custody, while the court sent Lucky to the one-day police remand today.

Maninder Singh had allegedly been stalking the girl, a student of Ajit Karam Singh Public School, Phase XI. The girl’s family alleged that when she refused to accept his proposal, the accused attacked the girl and her mother at their residence.

The accused have been charged with attempt to murder and outrage of modesty of woman in this connection.

Chandigarh, August 20
The UT police have arrested two Panjab University students in a case of brawl reported last week.

The police arrested Sukhjit Brar and Ravinder Singh in the case registered at the Sector 11 police station.

They are members of PUSU party and had got into a clash with members of INSO last week. Both were absconding since then and were arrested today. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
The officials of the UT sports department and engineering department seem to be struggling hard to complete the pending sports infrastructure in the City Beautiful.

In a recent meeting, the UT engineering department was told to return the fund allocated for building two badminton courts at Sports Complex of Sector 42.

In 2009, the UT sports department gave around Rs 24 lakh to the engineering department to come up with the two courts but the latter failed to complete the project even after three years.

Even basketball courts of Sector 7 and Sector 42 are facing the same problem. Laying of the synthetic courts at Sports Complex of Sector 42 is under process since 2009. On June 22, last year the issue was reported in these columns. Yet, the engineering department failed to open the courts for players.

Last year, the sports department decided to organise an All-India Basketball (U-19) Tournament in November 2011 at the newly-carpeted basketball court of Sports Complex, Sector 42, but due to the non-completion of work the tournament was dropped.

“The sport-cum-finance secretary has ordered the engineering department to reimburse the entire amount after the department failed to come up with the project. Now, the UT sports department will take the charge and will build both the courts here,” said JDS Sidhu, joint director of sports.

Adding further he said, “The department will flow tenders after receiving the amount and the work will be started soon. The players are in need of proper environment equipped with new facilities and they will be provided with this as soon as possible.”

When asked about the other pending projects, he added, “The engineering department is doing its best to complete all the projects. Hopefully, the department will soon complete the construction of basketball courts at Sports Complexes of Sector 42 and 7. The players will soon get to play in these stadiums and the department will organise tournaments here.”

“The portable badminton courts are in demand these days. This is the only complex of the City Beautiful and it should have all the modern facilities. We come here to learn and if we will learn in proper environment with proper facilities, we can give our best in all national or international tournaments. Hopefully, we will get the new courts soon,” said a group of junior badminton player.

On other hand, the local stadias also failed to catch official’s attention as the planning to convert the local stadiums into international standards grounds is still lying under official’s files.

“The top brass in both sports and engineering departments always put efforts to bring in new projects but failed to upgrade the present infrastructure. New projects are a sign of development but they should not ignore the present situations,” said a coach.

Chandigarh, August 20
The cricket teams of Chandigarh, Patiala and Amritsar won their opening match on the basis of first innings lead during the ongoing Katoch Shield Cricket Tournament being held here.

The rain washed away the last day of all the matches. Katoch Shield Amritsar secured three points for first innings lead while Mohali ended up with one point. Chandigarh logged three points for first innings while Ludhiana got one. In the last match, Patiala collected three points for first innings lead while Jalandhar got one point.

Earlier, Gurkirat Mann of Mohali scored a century with 136 off 154 balls, including 13 boundaries and three sixes, but his effort went in vain after Mohali conceded 34 runs first innings lead to Amritsar at Gandhi Ground.

The Mohali team was bowled out for 279 in 93.3 overs. Vinay Chaudhary claimed 5 for 92 while Bharat Lumba took 4 for 48. The Amritsar team scored 12 for no loss at end of third day’s play.

On other hand, the match between Chandigarh and Ludhiana was truncated due to wet ground conditions. Only 33 overs were bowled during the day wherein Chandigarh lost their overnight player Amit Prashar (87) while Gurkirat Walia scored an unbeaten 108 off 298, including 15 boundaries while Bipul Sharma hit an unbeaten 52 off 111 with four fours and one six.The local side scored 337 for 5. Baltej Singh claimed 4 for 54.

In the third match at GMSSS, Sector 26, the Patiala team was bowled out for 336 in 98.4 overs. Himanshu Chawla (95 including 12 boundaries and three sixes), Jeevanjot (88 including 12 boundaries) and Preetkamal (55 off 90 including six boundaries and one six) scored the most runs for the team. Patiala took a vital 63 runs lead on the first innings. Bowler Ishan Malhotra claimed 4 for 47 and Navdeep Singh claimed 3 for 54.

In reply, Jalandhar team scored 128 for 6 in 38 overs. Pagat Singh (48 off 81) and Taruwar Kohli (52 off 105) were the main scorers for the team.

The second round matches will start tomorrow with Chandigarh facing Patiala at GMSSS, Sector 26, Chandigarh, Jalandhar will challenge Mohali at PCA Stadium, Mohali, while Ludhiana taking on Amritsar at Gandhi Ground.

Chandigarh, August 20
In the ongoing league matches of the 11th ONGC SN Vohra memorial sub-junior (U-14) hockey tournament, the teams of Delhi Hockey XI and Baba Udam Hockey Academy Khadur Sahib register wins at hockey stadium of Sector-42 Sports Complex here today.

In the first match of the day, the team of Delhi XI overcame Surjit Hockey Academy by 2-0. In the first half, both the teams struggled neck to neck but after the lemon break, the winners scored two goals.

The team of Baba Udam Hockey Academy Khadur Sahib defeated Mehar Baba Charitable Trust Academy by 4-3. –– TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
Sakhsham defeated his opponent to win the final of boys (U-10) during the ongoing Yonex Chandigarh State Badminton Championship held at Badminton Hall of Sector-42 Sports Complex.

On other hand, Jasmine Rawat won the finals of girls by defeating Naina in under-10 category of the game. In other matches of doubles category, the duo Annie and Ishita defeated A Vasudha and Romil by 21-9 and 21-13 while Palak Sehgal and Sukriti overcame Nisha and Seerat by 21-10 and 21-7.

Results

Girls(U-10)-Jasmine Rawat bt Naina 21-16; Boys(U-10)-Saksham Singh bt Yathrath 24-22; Boys(U-13)-Yuvraj bt Parush 21-14,21-16; Shaurya bt Imaan Singh 21-17,21-13; Girls (U-13)- Ishita bt Palak Sehgal 21-16, 21-6; Garima bt Arshia Sethi 21-17, 18-21, 21-19; Boys(U-15)- Ishaan bt Vivek 21-4, 21-10; Kevin bt Abhinav Tyagi 21-12,21-9; Himanshu bt Amit Bansal 21-17, 21-11; Doubles- Ishaan and Paras Mittal bt Chirag and Shivam 21-2, 21-1; Girls (U-15)- Mehak bt Sukriti Chawla 19-21, 21-17, 21-14; Ishita bt Muskan Goyal 21-9, 21-6; Annie bt Garima 21-12, 16-21, 21-15; Daman bt Jasserat 21-7, 21-14.

Chandigarh, August 20
Table tennis players Naina, Kalyani, Pankaj, Rahul, Arnav won titles during the Prof RS Mehta Memorial Open Table Tennis Tournament held at Table Tennis Hall in Sector 23 here today.

In the final match of junior girls singles (U-18), Kalyani (SD-32) defeated Pareen (DAVPS 8) by 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 13-11 while in the final of junior boys singles (U-18), Pankaj Sidana (ManavMangal 21) overcame Mayank Kapoor (DAVPS 8) 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-8.

Results

Youth Girls Singles (U-21)-Kalyani (SD college-32) beat Neha (Jalandhar) 10-12, 11-6, 11-1, 11-5; Young Boys (U-21)-Arnav (LPU) beat Dinker Goel (10-12, 11-5,12-10, 11-9); Women Singles-Naina Suri (SD College-32) beat Kalyani (SDC-32) 10-12, 1-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6; Men Singles-Rahul Malhotra (AG Punjab) beat Saurabh Lathwal (Ramjas College, Delhi) 14-12, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7.